Setting Goals

The statement, "Happiness is my goal" is absurd. It's no different than saying, "Having money is my goal" or, "Pleasure is my goal." Happiness, money, and pleasure are results that come from actions.

For example, when I finish a good book, I feel good about it. Happiness wasn't my goal, though - my goal was to finish the book. The joy resulted from the completion of my goal, of the satisfaction of accomplishing a task. (And, to an extent, I could anticipate that finishing the book might make me happy.)

Bad goal setting underscores many issues we see today, such as pointless careerism (to use George Carlin's phrase), mindless hedonism, and the pursuit of narcissistic "fame." All of these set a consequence - money, pleasure, popularity - as the goal, but without a specified means. As a result, people who fall into them are caught in cycles that prevent their growth and actualization.

Simply wandering through life seeking "happiness" with no specified means is one of the things that leads to directionless behavior. We see this with people who focus only on what makes them feel good in the immediate moment rather than the long term. With no end point in mind, they are unwilling to commit to doing something that might feel unpleasant in the present for the sake of satisfaction down the line.

You need to, at the very least, add a "How" to the statement. For example, "Happiness is my goal that I will pursue by being an awesome artist." There is nothing wrong with wanting to experience joy in life. The importance is knowing how you will get there. There is always the issue of whether or not your selected method will bring you happiness. That requires knowing the direction you want to pursue, the passions you feel and where they might lead. Setting a direction, even if it's not correct, is still better than no direction at all, because once you are moving forward changing the heading is just a calibration.